Imagine Dragons Live Atlanta 02/26/14 – Live Music Production Case Study Pt.6

Imagine Dragons do an excellent job bringing the audience out of the lull of the touching moment they created with “30 Lives” while providing yet another different musical moment by letting bass player Ben McKee take a moment to shine. Ben slowly raises the pressure in the room to get the audience back into full cheer mode. At the end of his bass solo he teases the melody of “Demons” so audience is fully prepared to sing sing along with front man Dan Reynolds without the band even asking for a sing along. Their approach to the arrangement of this song also helps to assure an unwarranted sing along and allows the audience to be fully engaged in the song from the start.

At this point in the show, 13 songs in, Imagine Dragons also look to their media usage to engage the crowd at a point where people, like my kids, are getting tired. By showing crowd shots of fans watching and recording with their phones, they allow yet another opportunity for the audience to focus on something different assuring the crowd is not bored by the same old thing. This show is expertly crafted from start to finish and exemplifies why all live performing acts should have a live music producer or performance coach helping them with their live show similar to how any great band knows they need a producer in the studio to attain greatness.